The ideologically Dislocated are far more likely to say that the Democrats better represent their views on social issues, while a majority asserted that the government in Washington is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. They are also the least religious of any of the five groups.
But Wait. . .I've been sipping Milk and Honey! Mon Jul 2 2007
All from ab: I love this article for so many reasons, but this may be my favorite quote: "A Congress comes in, and it's Congress. It's an institution that has not been popular."
Nice job, since nobody likes us, let's just continue to suck at our jobs and collect fat paychecks. There's more but I could go on forever. What happened to the public mandate?
...in a book, entitled "The Economic Naturalist," by a professor from Cornell, Robert Frank, whom I've mentioned a few times on this site. I TAed one of his classes and was a student in another.
In each class that he teaches, Professor Frank assigns two papers with the same instructions: Ask an interesting question and answer it using economic principles learned in the class. This book is a "best of" collection, with most of the questions having been originally posed by former students, and a few of them offered from the author himself as well as other economists. The book does not read like a collection of student essays, thankfully, because the author has produced edited versions of the original papers in his own voice.
Often the examples given are attempts to explain paradoxes, such as "Why do the keypad buttons on drive-up cash machines have Braille dots?" and "Why do cars rent for less per day than tuxedos?" The questions are grouped together by economic theme so the reader can see each one applied to a broad spectrum of everyday observations.
The book is not without its problems. Sometimes I found the economic explanations to be a little weak or incomplete, and other times the explanations were almost too obvious. But mostly I think that this book has the potential to change how the reader looks at the world around him. Each question and answer pair is only about a page long on average, so it would be ideal for people who read in short bursts, like on subway commutes. It is also interesting to read a question and attempt to formulate your own explanation before reading the one given by the book.
And in case you were wondering, the question that I am credited with is "Why have U.S. men been so unsuccessful in international soccer competition? And why have the U.S. women fared so much better?" I don't think the answer is particularly earth-shattering, but it was cool to see it make it into the book. Probably many DTSers could reasonably answer it after giving it some quick thought.
A more compelling interpretation of the Sopranos FinaleMon Jul 9 2007
From miolla: This has made some rounds over the interweb. This guy is a TV Writer and goes through a more than thorough explanation of cues from the final episode that lead to a conclusion.
The Sports Guy also linked to this a couple of weeks back. -decker
Okay guys - time to turn it on big time for the voting. We were selected by Perry Farrell and the Lollapalooza team in the top 20, and now we need to finish in the top 5. Then voting is DONE. So please, please, please... tell all your friends, your coworkers, etc. to vote for us every day with all your email addresses!
And again, thanks guys... we couldn't have gotten this far without your votes.
Formula 1 has decided to stop racing at Indy. The F1 boss mentioned that a) they don't need a race in the US and b) they would consider moving the race to New York of Las Vegas, both of which sound like sweet options to me. - JT
A Better Way To Deal with Criminals?Fri Jul 13 2007
An armed burglar broke into a home, but had a change of heart after being offered a glass of wine and some cheese. He then asked for hugs before leaving. No one was harmed. -decker
From polega: Car and Driver reviewed some movie cars. Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino, Back to the Future DeLorean, MadMax Interceptor, General Lee, Batmobile.
Totally bogus, as the slowest, least roadworthy Batmobile "wins", even though all the other cars are dinged for being 70's and 80's cars. But, I'm sure all the C&D editors were old enough to remember watching Batman in primetime.
A rugby player in Australia had a tooth embedded in his head after an on-field collision. It was there for three months causing headaches and an eye-infection before a doctor discovered it. -decker
From Derek: For everyone who doesn't get enough sporting news, Ball Hype is here to save you. Everything from why Andrew Bogut sucks to save percentage on the five-hole to Chone Figgins. You can narrow down stories by team, region (somehow Pittsburgh is a region), sport, player, game, day, and probably a bunch of other things.
The Washington Post has a pair of stories about our friends in the Middle East:
Al-Qaeda is ready to strike the US again according to an Intelligence report. If I worked in Intelligence, I would probably constantly warn of strikes to cover my ass in case one actually happened.
Boulder County is implementing a system of caps and credits for house size. The article is a little confusing, but it seems that if you build a house less than 5,000sq ft. (or 7k in another area), you can sell the 'leftover' square footage to anyone wanting to build bigger than that. The market determines how much that's worth.
Is it just me, or is a 5,000+ square foot house ridiculous? Especially when there's two (or hell - 6) people living there, it just doesn't make any sense. On top of that, why would you want to take on the upkeep and pay for the heating/cooling/electricity/taxes? -hendrix
I'm betting this is some sort of compromise between the people who want to get rid of the so called McMansions and the Ricky Bobby's of the world. -jm
Why does this sound good to me when I know it would be disgusting? Thu Jul 19 2007
From Rollins: While the thread title could apply to most Saturday nights in the Pika basement, I'm actually referring to Ben and Jerry's new "Simpsons"-themed ice cream.
I'm Kinda Mad I Didn't Think Of ThisMon Jul 23 2007
Here is a fantastic blog all about drunk athletes... I think this first post here is Steelers place kicker Skippy Reed who might have the worst hair I've ever seen. - JT (link from Leon)
All Chicaginians need to get off their asses and get to the Double Door on Milwaukee Ave in Chi-Town. It's a free show so get their early. Have a look at the site in case they go to a ticket based thing. NSFW because I posted it. Otherwise there's nothing NSFW about it.
Believe it or not, I have been following the TDF this year... there actually were a few great stories and compelling events that kept me interested. One story revolved around a pre-race favorite who crashed in the opening stages and has since been fighting his ass off to get back into the race. Well, that guy just failed a doping test.
I don't know what to think about this... I really wish that the doping tests were not performed by sketchy French labs and rather by some sort of professional, 100% unbiased outfit. It would erase any doubt I have in the validity of the tests.
Also, to separate this out, this test result is quite different from Landis's test from last year (at least as far as I understand it). VInokourov had two different types of red blood cells in his blood, signaling that he received a blood transfusion prior to the stage. Landis had slightly increased levels of chemicals in his blood. - JT
I tell girls that i'm in the helicopters Wed Jul 25 2007
Fake Steeler gets jail time. I remember when someone once told me they were Brian Hendrix, and i'm like, "the Brian Timothy Lavar Extreme Hendrix?" and next thing i know i'm waking up alone and the blue prints for zeus were missing.
From "Troy Polamalu...I mean naj." It's a follow up to this story.
And Now The Tour Leader Gets Booted Wed Jul 25 2007
Leader of the TDF Michael Rasmussen has been booted from the tour by his own team for not training where he said he was training (and lied about it). In good news, Team Disco's Alberto Contador ends up in first place after the dismissal. - JT
Excellent pic of Ryan Howard hitting a walk-off bomb off the second deck in extra innings last night. It's huge, so you get a good look at all the fans and players right as they realize it's gone.
From will. I think what we actually need is a "Boring Sports" category for cycling and baseball.
How do you like your precious iPhones now, suckers?Thu Jul 26 2007
A security company has figured out hwo to hack into an iPhone in order to retrieve "recent text messages, Google Maps visits, addresses and phone numbers, and even secretly turn on its microphone so it could act as a bug." And they were able to do it within 3 weeks of its release.
My favorite part: Apple was told about the flaws on July 17, and has until August 2 to fix them; after that, the exploit will be made public and the million or so iPhones out there will be targets.
Why make it public putting consumers at risk? -decker
Merry Miller conducts a painful interview with CMU grad Holly Hunter. Just watch the first 45 seconds and the last minute. She even identified her own network incorrectly (nbc instead of abc). -decker
From will: 
